


Can you hear the music? It plays just for you

by evaricious



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: M/M, Post-episode 1, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Victor decides what he wants, Yuuri shakes it off, pre-Yurio's arrival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 03:21:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8561641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evaricious/pseuds/evaricious
Summary: Yuuri needs to get out of his head after the upheaval Victor's arrival causes. Victor begins the journey to understanding Yuuri and his own motivations towards the younger skater.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the theory of the Yuri on Ice opening on Tumblr by darksapphire8 and the analysis of the song lyrics Stay Close To Me by littlechubbyyuuri (help me I'm on my phone I don't know how to link?)

Victor, his childhood idol, a Prince on Ice and perfection in his eyes, was now his coach. It was almost unbelievable, and Yuuri was struggling to process recent events. Victor was a dream to him, only now here he was, in real life, banning him from eating pork cutlet bowls and calling him “little piggy”. Those he could forgive him for, but his worst crime by far? Forbidding him from entering the rink.

Skating wasn’t just Yuuri’s love, it was his life. His blades were an extension of himself, and skating freely allowed him to clear his head and think. These days it wasn’t even something he consciously thought about; he just strapped on his boots and let his mind wander, letting his jumbled thoughts sort themselves out as he danced.

And Victor had barred him from the rink.

At any other time, maybe it wouldn’t have been such a huge problem, but right now, after meeting his hero, and with all the confusion he felt about his reactions to Victor, the strange feelings he felt stirring in his chest and, he blushed as he admitted to himself, feelings slightly lower than chest-height, now more than ever before he needed to skate.

Which was why he was currently sneaking down the hall, his sports bag clutched to his chest, his beating heart pressed against the skates nestled within.

He paused his tiptoeing outside Victor’s sliding door, holding his breath and straining his ears for evidence of Victor’s sleeping presence. He could hear a stirring within, the slight creak of a body moving on a mattress, and exhaling quietly in relief he continued his escape.

He pulled on his shoes in the entranceway quickly, fumbling at the laces, almost giddy with relief that he was almost out the door. Shoes on and bag over his shoulder, he slowly slid the door open and vanished into the dark night beyond. He didn’t notice a pair of eyes watching him from the hallway, and Victor smiled to himself in the dark. He returned to his room, quickly getting dressed and patting Makkachin, who still lay curled up asleep on his bed, before grabbing his own bag and following the fugitive.

Yuuri ran the whole way to Ice Castle. He was panting when he reached the front door, his lungs burning in the cold night air. But his flushed face was split with a grin of pure happiness as he unlocked the door. Yuuko had lent him a spare key days ago, declaring that Victor wasn’t the boss of him and if Yuuri wanted to skate he should. He had protested, firmly believing that he wouldn’t go against Victor’s wishes, but she had pressed the key into his hands regardless, and he had pocketed it with a vow to never use it. Boy, was he glad she had insisted.

He let himself in, glancing around guiltily and ducking inside. He left the lights off everywhere but the rink itself; he didn’t want to draw unwanted attention. Quickly donning his skates rinkside, he could hardly contain his excitement as his eyes roamed over the ice. All his. He could skate to his heart’s content and Victor would never know.

Outside, Victor had followed Yuuri on his bicycle, and had quickly realised where Yuuri was going. It amused him that quiet, shy Yuuri was performing a jailbreak to explicitly break his rules. Despite the rule breaking, he wasn’t angry. In fact he smiled to himself as he lazily pedalled, hanging back to avoid detection. He knew Yuuri lacked confidence, and he didn’t want to ruin this fledgling attempt at breaking free from the confines Yuuri struggled to live in.

Grateful that Yuuri hadn’t bothered to relock the door, Victor quietly carried his bicycle inside, laying it out of sight and picking his way through the gloom to the rink.

He hid himself in the shadows, just in time to watch Yuuri stand, testing his skates with a _tap tap_ of each booted foot, before stepping out into the light.

Yuuri immediately felt more at ease. The pressure of the last few days was melting away as he let smooth, even strides carry him across the ice. It was just like old times. This was a luxury he hadn’t had in Detroit. Nowhere but Hasetsu could he skate like this, with only the sound of his blades, his breath and his heartbeat.

Initially his pulse had pounded in his ears, a combination of the nerves of being caught breaking the rules and his run for freedom, but as he skated slow figure eights he calmed down. His breathing settled, his heart was no longer hammering but returned to a slow, measured beat. He continued to stretch as he glided the length and breadth of the rink, letting his thoughts and worries go, mind wandering freely as he warmed up.

From the shadows Victor watched silently, a finger pressed to his lips as he considered his student. He had intended to call him out, to watch Yuuri’s face flush as he stammered his excuses and apologies, but now he knew he didn’t want to interrupt him. He had perhaps been too harsh to forbid the boy from skating entirely. He had really only imposed it as a motivator. His hope had been to have Yuuri whipped back into shape as soon as possible, but watching him now Victor was reminded of what had drawn him to Yuuri in the first place.

Yuuri had picked up his pace now, body sufficiently warmed and limber and he landed a triple axel easily. Every movement of his body, from the pointed toe of his boot to the delicate curve of his fingers sang to Victor, who unconsciously moved closer. Yuuri continued to practice jumps, dancing across the rink with a grace that made Victor’s heart beat faster.

Yuuri slowed his pace, once more gliding easily as he caught his breath again. He had not tried to control his thoughts, he had just let everything go. Since the arrival of Victor he had not once felt relaxed; there was just so much to process. So many thoughts and feelings had crowded his mind and he let every single one go now. He knew they would be back tomorrow, or even once he stopped skating, but for now he just acknowledged the thought and then let it fall behind him, lost on the ice. The stress and pressure of having your idol right in front of you, invading your personal space , talking to you, his wildest fantasies coming true, Victor wanting to coach him, Yuuri. It was surreal and exciting and nerve wracking and right now it was all melting away to just the feeling of pure, exhilarating joy. Because Victor was here, to coach Yuuri, because Victor wanted to. And regardless of the teasing, the hopefully unintentional harsh words, and the ridiculous rules, Yuuri was just so happy that Victor was here with him.

He glided to a stop, exhaling deeply, before drawing in another cold breath. He let his head drop and his body relax. He knew what he wanted to do. It felt like closure on this entire strange week.

Slowly, he pointed his left foot behind him and the sound of the pick echoed briefly in the deep silence. A few more even breaths, and Yuuri let the music start in his head as he began to skate Stay Close To Me.

Still hidden in the shadows, Victor had recognised the pose and his hand stifled his gasp of surprise as he felt his chest hitch. He watched as Yuuri began the routine, and as Yuuri gracefully performed the familiar movements, Victor could hear the music. 

This was the Yuuri that Victor had flown across the world to meet. He had left everything behind because that skating had called to him. The music Yuuri created as he danced across the ice was filling a hole in Victor’s heart he hadn’t before realised was there. And he knew now that he couldn’t interrupt Yuuri tonight.

Tonight, Yuuri wasn’t skating for Victor to see, although he hoped one day he would. As the song reached its crescendo, Victor felt the hot prickle of tears. His vision blurred and he blinked the tears away impatiently, eyes still fixed on Yuuri. He knew that even if Yuuri would never skate for Victor, Victor would one day skate this for Yuuri.

Because for so many reasons, that was truly what Victor wanted.


End file.
